A long overdue update...

I clearly have been a very neglectful blogger lately. It is March and I have yet to post Christmas pictures, however life lately has been absolutely and completely NUTSO! Since this post is so overdue and most of you already know a lot of it (and thus is more so for posterity sake anyhow) I'll try to make it brief...

OUR LIFE SO FAR IN 2011

Happy new year...you all get the FLU! And is no small way either. We passed it around to everyone, including uncles and grandma and grandpa. The night I was my sickest (Mom would literally get me cleaned up and my bed remade JUST in time for me to get sick again) was far and away her longest and worst night as a parent to date! Especially since she was at home alone without Daddy's help...he was still at Grandma's because he was too sick to make the drive home.

No, wait...just when you think you everyone is feeling better Daddy ends up with some freak neurological disease. What started as a headache ended in a very scary 2 week stay at the hospital. Along the way Daddy experienced memory loss, numbness on one or both sides of his body, inability to speak and extreme confusion. On the second trip to the ER they finally diagnosed him with Meningitis (swelling of the brain's lining) and Encephalitis (swelling of the brain), but it took nearly 2 weeks for them to decide what was the root cause. After tons and tons of tests, and about as many different theories along the way (including lupus, leukemia and auto-immune), they finally diagnosed him with Atypical CMV Encephalitis. Unfortunately though, since it was a virus there wasn't anything they could do to help "cure" it, so they sent him home with nothing by symptom management aids. Fortunately though, the symptoms did seems to improve upon his returning home and within a couple of weeks he was nearly back to himself. It was a terrifying time for all of us and we thank God that he made it through and is OK. The out-pouring of support that we received at this time was amazing and Mommy and Daddy were both so touched.

Then it was my turn...not even a week after Daddy got home from the hospital, we found out that I was going to have to have surgery to repair a double hernia. And not to make matters any less confusing, they scheduled it for less than a month before baby Ethan is due.

Next, and not to be outdone by me, it was Sutton's turn to visit the ER. Not even 2 weeks after Daddy's hospital stay, Mommy was back at the bedside of a loved one at St Vincents. And again, it took two trips and practically the entire weekend spent in the ER to diagnose Sutton with pneumonia. Fortunately though they felt like they had caught it early enough that she could be discharged, but it sure made for a stressful weekend.

Oh, and did I mention that the stress of all of this caused Mommy to start having contractions??

And again, not to be outdone by anyone apparently, Sutton got sick again. Fortunately this time it was during the week so we didn't have to revisit the ER (4 times in 6 weeks is enough for Mommy!). Since it wasn't in the ER she was able to see her regular pediatrician who, after looking at the ER xrays from the first time and knowing her medical history, decided that she actually didn't ever have pneumonia, but rather has asthma. She was diagnosed with a type of illness based asthma (versus activity based) and sent home with a nebulizer (a breathing treatment machine)...for which she HATES. Good luck trying to get an active 18m old to sit still for 20 mins, attached to a loud machine that pumps a cold mist into her face and causes her heart to race. It is quite a battle and so far, no amount of bribery has helped.

Then it was time for me to have surgery, and I did awesome! The nurses and Drs couldn't have been nicer and really helped me to not be scared. The first night home was pretty rough and I was in quite a bit of pain, but I survived and now have some great scars to show how brave I am.

I got some great new hospital jammies...strike a pose!

And took a Barbie car to the operating room! Buzz and Bullseye got to ride alone for support and the nurse even blew bubbles for me to follow, just like at a car wash!

Then I got to leave in an awesome wheelchair (I'm still a little drugged up here..can you tell!?)

Whew, just talking about it makes me tired! Thank goodness that is behind us and we can move onto bigger, better and HAPPIER occasions like the upcoming birth of my little brother- Ethan. We are all so excited and just know that life will get better.

And before I close, here are some long overdue Christmas pictures...

Cookies for Santa...what fun is life if you don't get a little dirty??

 

                            MMMM...the final product all set out for Santa...don't they look Yummy!

How many "elves" does it take to assemble a play house???

Christmas morning! I guess we were good because check out those gifts, including the Round Up Gang- Woody, Buz, Jessie and Bullseye! And our favorite gift of all...the new kitchen for me and Sutton to "share"! What a great day it was!